Do votes and notes have a connect? Let the experts help you take a call

Panel to discuss a comprehensive strategy for financial markets on Friday.

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Indian elections and their outcomes have often driven a wedge even in apolitical families with little at stake but curiosity. So, it would be unwise to assume that the planet’s biggest balloting exercise — and its likely impact — wouldn’t polarize Mumbai’s financial community, which has much more at stake than does the average pollster in a television studio.

Dalal Street, therefore, needs to put in place a comprehensive strategy for the financial markets as the Indian voter gets ready to elect federal lawmakers who would run the country for the next five years. The outcome of the polls on financial policy would be the centrepiece at Friday’s ETMarkets Global Summit masters’ panel, comprising Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment, Bharat Shah of Ask Group, Navneet Munot of SBI Mutual Fund, Vikas Khemani of Carnelian Capital, and Amisha Vora of Prabhudas Liladher.

Of course, views would differ, and those differences should provide the bedrock from which concrete action points would likely emerge for the investment community and its advisers. Mukherjea, for instance, believes that the polls would have little impact on how Asia’s third-biggest economy fares over the medium term.

“There is nothing in the Indian political or economic data to suggest that the identity of the party winning the elections at the Centre has any great fundamental bearing on the economy. We all like the drama, and I like it as much as anybody else, but we have to be fair and honest about the whole thing. We have to say that neither the opinion polls nor the actual results have any long-term bearing on the stock market,” says Mukherjea.

But Andrew Holland of Avendus Capital, India’s biggest hedge fund manager, has a different view on the subject.

“We are going to see a volatile period because of our state and general elections,” he says. Holland believes that headwinds would keep testing investors over the next six months, although he is more bullish on India today than at any time in the recent past.

Union Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu would be the chief guest at the event to be held at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Top emerging markets expert Adrian Mowat would deliver the opening address.

Besides drawing up market strategies for an election year, the summit will also take a deeper look into the investment opportunities in the PMS and AIF space in India and in overseas realty. In one key session, industry leaders will take a close look at the fintech disruptions that have either unsettled or unseated incumbents across the financial markets landscape.

The second edition of the ETMarkets Global Summit will also have two special sessions. In the first, market veteran Shankar Sharma would share the learnings from his 36-year journey on Dalal Street. In the other, international life coach Gaur Gopal Das would enlighten the audience on the rewards of doing business ethically.